Status of Telecommunication in W-

band and possible applications:

satellite broadband connection and
networks of mobile phones
ARES
&
CTIF, Interdepartmental Center for TeleInfrastructure,
University of Rome Tor Vergata

Rome 26/09/ 2014

Satellite Broadband Connection

Motivation

Challenges

SoA and on-going activities

Motivation

The new generation of High Throughput Satellite is based on

the use of Ka-band and multi-beam coverage (in 500MHZ of
bandwidth for the user terminal, the total throughput can go
beyond 70Gbps in case of KA-SAT.)

The demand for more capacity per home will continue to

increase

For satellite systems to remain attractive and keep up with the

expecations of consumers, next generation HTS will be
designed:
 to deliver higher and higher capacity (terabit?)
 with a quality comparable to FTTH and
 at the current consumer price.

Need to go towards higher frequency bands to increase the

available bandwidth
Motivation

Which frequencies bands we are talking about?

KA-BAND

Illustration of Ka-band Frequency Spectrum in ITU Region 1

2.5 GHz uplink and 2.5 GHz downlink

Motivation

Which frequencies bands we are talking about?

Q/V-BAND

Feeder link uplink User link uplink

User link Feeder link
downlink downlink

37.5 39.5 42.5 43.5 47.2 49.250.2 50.4 51.4

Illustration of Q/V-band Frequency Spectrum in ITU Region 1

5GHz in uplink and 5GHz in downlink

with some restrictions…
 Motivation

Currently, the use of beyond Ka-band frequencies ONLY for the

feeder links, is an interesting option as it would overcome the
problems related to the still high costs for user terminal at such high
frequencies and it would allow a maximization of both the terminal
spectrum (with a consequent increase of the system capacity) and
the gateway spectrum (with a consequent minimisation of the
number of gateways and the associated costs).

In Q/V band there are already ASI/ESA on-going experimental

missions (Alphasat TDP#5 „Aldo Payload‟).

The next step is W-band!

Motivation

W-band 70-110 GHz

User link Feeder link User link Feeder link

downlink downlink downlink uplink
71 73 76 81 83 86

5GHz in uplink and 5GHz in downlink can be made available

Challenges

Well known challenges when going to such high frequency

bands are:

 Channel propagation impairments (in particular rain and

clouds attenuation);
 Need for Propagation Impairments Mitigation Techniques
(PIMT);
 Power generation, in particular broadband high power
amplifiers;
 Non linear behaviour of HPA;
 Phase Noise;
 Unavalability on energy-efficient high resolution A/D
converters for bandwidth of several GHz.
Status of the Art and on-going Activities

Alphasat TDP5 “Aldo Payload” on-going experiments

The main objective of the telecommunication experiments of

TDP5 mission is to demonstrate the feasibility of broadband
satellite communications in Q/V band, optimizing and
assessing, over-the-air, the performance of the indispensable
adaptive access techniques.
•Alphasat was successfully launched on
July 25, 2013, from the European
Spaceport in Kourou (French Guiana) via
the Ariane 5 rocket;
•IOT phase completed at the end of 2013;
•Scientific experiments started at the
beginning of 2014
 Status of the Art and on-going Activities

TDP5 System Architecture

38 GHz
38 GHz

48 GHz 38 GHz
48 GHz 48 GHz

Tito Tx/Rx Graz Tx/Rx

Station Station
Spino D‟Adda
Tx/Rx Station

Ground Network

Experimental Control
Centre of Propagation Exp. Inmarsat
ESA
(Politecnico of Milan) Mission Satellite
TECO
Control Centre Control
Experimental Control Centre of Interface
Centre
Communication Exp. (University
of Rome Tor Vergata)
Status of the Art and on-going Activities

Communication Experiment Payload

 Status of the Art and on-going Activities

DAVID (Data and Video DAta and Video Interactive Distribution) Project

“Small Missions for

Science and Technology”
Programme of the Italian
Space Agency
Pioneering the use of W-
band for an experimental
collection of high data
volume
Phase B completed (2003)
Status of the Art and on-going Activities

WAVE (W-band Analysis and VErification) Project (2008)

Feasibility Study for Telecommunication Payloads operating in

the W band (Phase A & A2).

WAVE – Phase A2

Demonstrative Pre-Operative
Studies Mission Studies

HAP LEO LEO GEO

Demonstrator Small Payload Mission Mission

Timeline
 Status of the Art and on-going Activities

Together with the design of the GEO Mission the following studies have
been carried out:
• HAP (High Altitude Platform) demonstrative payload aiming to
provide a first atmospheric channel characterisation in W band →
Aero-WAVE Project;
• small LEO payload aiming to perform the first in-orbit test of W band
hardware → IKNOW (In-orbit Key test and validatioN Of W-band)
Project ;
• LEO payload, a pre-operative mission with the same objectives of the
GEO payload with a Ground-LEO-Ground link type → WAVE-LEO
Mission;

The feasibility study provided a complete W band P/L development line.

 Status of the Art and on-going Activities

WAVE – Aero-WAVE System Configuration

Main Goals:
• To provide a first atmospheric
channel characterisation by
transmitting a beacon at ~95 GHz
and data at ~94 GHz;

• hardware payload designed using

COTS components, already existing
and employed for terrestrial
applications (e.g. radar);
development time will be short and
costs relatively low.
 Status of the Art and on-going Activities

WAVE – IKNOW System Configuration

Main Goals:
• To gather a measurements dataset related to the signal
propagation in W band, in order to develop a significant statistics on
additional attenuation contributions (like rain and clouds); testing of
W-band communication links

• To test W band hardware and

space qualification
methodologies, so getting
first results to be used for
future missions (LEO and
GEO payload).
Status of the Art and on-going Activities

WAVE – IKNOW Payload full configuration

Status of the Art and on-going Activities

WAVE – IKNOW Payload full configuration

The full payload configuration foresees for the receiving section

the reception of a W band modulated signal to be used both to
derive BER measurements and to carry out RF power
measurements in uplink.

Moreover, the addition of an on-board radiometer for data-

gathering is foreseen as optional.

The transmitter chain is basically composed of a frequency

generator which generates a modulated signal with Split-Phase
(SP) Manchester-coded BPSK modulation, an up-conversion
stage, a SSPA and finally a beacon generator.
Beyond Ka-band Satellite Communication Market
Opportunities

The future beyond Ka-band satellite telecommunication

applications will exploit the large bandwidth availability, that turns
into a high system capacity, and the antenna reduced dimension
(both on-board the satellite and on the user terminal).
The following future applications have been identified:
• Fixed Services:
• Broadband Multimedia Satellite Systems (BMSS), feeder link
in Q/V/W band, service/user link in Ka band
• Backbone Connectivity Network (BCN);
• Mobile Services, in particular aeronautical ones (including UAV
and HAPs);
• Space Services, in particular inter-satellite link for data relay;
Network for Mobile Applications